Game missile



Jan.4, 1944. Y c. R. YANCEY.

GAME MISSILE Filed Feb. 28, 1941 INVENTOR. CHARLES R. )QNC'EK ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 4, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAME MISSILE- Charles R. Yancey, Dallas, Tex. Application February 28, 1941. Serial No. 381,100"

Claims. (01. 273-106) This invention relates to missiles such as shuttlecocks, birds, darts, and such game missiles which may be used for playing games such as battledore and shuttlecock, badminton, aerial dart, and the like. The game missile I contemplate may further me employed in various weights and sizes for other modifications of such games in which the missile is struck back and forth across a net, bar, or line by opposing players with bats, rackets paddles, and the like.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a new type of game missile which'will be inexpensive in construction, extremely durable, accurate in trajectory, and easy to repair in case the flight guide becomes broken during play.

The game of badminton is probably the most popular game of the type for which my new game missile is adapted. In a badminton shuttlecock there is a rounded snub-nosed head made of rubber-covered or leather-covered cork in which are set feathers placed at such an angle in a, conical arrangement as to retard the speed and cause the missle to spin during flight, so that a relatively slow but accurate flight trajectory is obtained. The ordinary birds used in playing badminton require much careful handwork in the selection and trimming of feathers, in the angular setting of the quills in the head, and in stitching together the feather assembly, so that the entire missile will be in perfect balance, and give proper spin in flight. Due to this construction the cost of such shuttlecocks is necessarily high, running, at present, from twenty-five to fifty cents each. Also, due to the very fragile nature of feathers, the quills often become broken or loose in the head after only a. few minutes of play, so that the bird becomes unbalanced and is no longer serviceable because of its irregular trajectory. Thus, due to both the costly construction and the unsatisfactory durability of the feathered shuttlecock, badminton and such games cannot be played except at a considerable expense in continually replacing broken birds.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a playing missile constructed on the same general lines as a badminton bird or dart which will exhibit much the same relatively slow but balanced and accurate flight of such a bird, but which can be made very cheaply yet precisely by a few machine operations, and of comparatively durable materials, and in which the flight guide may be replaced if it should become broken by an identical flight guide of inexpensive construction.

Thus it is one of my objects to provide a dart or bird in which the flight guide (which takes the place of the feathers in the ordinary shuttlecock) may be blanked out and formed, or molded,

by fast presses from tough, flexible material such.

as Celluloid, paper, or other suitable composition.

Another object is to provide a flight guide attachment device for such a missile which will permit the changing of the flight guide for another of different wind resistance, or because of damage, which attachment devicewill be of a balanced nature so as not to aifect detrimentally the spinning flight of the bid.

It is also an object to provide a durable, strikable head of resilient material in either solid or hollow construction, which head will be capable of severe but natural compression when struck, though such head will have integral means for attachment of the flight guide.

Thus it will be possible to combine heads of various sizes and weights with flight guides of varying length, flare angle, and pitch, so that the missile may be adapted for use in various games requiring different flight distances and to suit varying wind conditions.

, Referring to the drawing in which I have illustrated a preferred type of, playing missile:

Figure l is a side elevation of one preferred form of missile.

Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical central cross-section through the missile shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a blank which, when folded into shape, provides the flight guide for the missile.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the head of the missile.

Referring first to Fig. 5, the head I of the missile illustrated is formed in a conoidal shape from molded rubber and has a round, extruded, center end stem 2', which is molded integrally with the rest of the head, and about which a threaded metal sleeve 3 is formed or bonded during the molding process.

While the head illustrated is of solidmolded rubber, it maybe desirable in some games to have a hollow constructed head, and, as to the material, I may prefer to employ cork, soft wood, or other suitable material such as'a molded resinous as to permit the formation of satisfactory threads therein, it is possible that the sleeve 3 may be dispensed with altogether. Also, while the sleeve 3 is shown to be of metal, it is understood that it may be made of a plastic or other material.

In the missile illustrated I provide upon the upper surface of the conoidal head II, a raised or rough surfaced ridge 4, which is preferably molded integrally with the head I and of the same resilient material. This ridge is substantially concentric with-the circular stem 2, and is raised slightly above the plane of the upper surface II of the head I and is so designed that when the threaded flanged nut to be described, is screwed down upon the threaded sleeve, the said ridge 4 will be compressed and will tend to thrust the nut upwardly against the threads of the sleeve 3, so that the nut will not vibrate, or otherwise tend to loosen itself, despite the repeated striking which the missile will undergo.

Referring further to Fig. 5, the flight guideattachment device consists essentially of the round, extruded'stem 2, the round threaded sleeve 3, and the round, flanged nut l2, as shown in Fig. 3. It is emphasized that this type of construction is important as it completely dissociates the entire attachment device from the compressive forces which will act upon the head I. Thus the head I is enabled to be compressed laterally, or as it will, in a natural manner whenit is struck by a paddle or racket, whereas such compression and the resultant rebound might otherwise be lop-sided and eccentric if the attachment device were embedded into the head as, for example, by means of an expansion bolt. Also, it is to be noted that the circular construction of all of the parts of this attachment device centered, as they are, upon the polar aXis of the head, are in absolute balance and will not adversely affect the spinning qualities of the bird.

Referring now to Fig. 4, it will be noted that the flight guide may be made of a blank cut from tough flexible sheet material such as stiff paper, Celluloid, or the like, having a central hub portion 5, provided with an aperture 6, which fits about the sleeve 3, in Fig. 5. Vanes I perform the same function as the feathers in connection with badmintonbirds. These vanes I are placed at spaced intervals about'the theoretical circle FA which is concentric with the circular aperture 6, and the vanes are folded upwards on lines 713, which lines originate on the theoretical circle IA, and which lines may rise to any desired degree of inclination from the axis of said circle. It will be understood that the degree of inclination of such folding lines 113 determine the pitch of the vanes I, and that such pitch imparts the spinning characteristics of the missile in its flight.

Attaching tabs 8 extend from the sides of the vanes I at a desired distance from the fold' lines 113, and these attaching tabs have two opposing bends 9, which, when the flight guide is assembled," serve to maintain the proper conical flare of the vane assembly, and the pitch of the vanes.

The ordinary plan .of assembly is to move the vanes upward from their position shown in Fig. 4 into a conical position in which the attaching tabs 8 are adhesively secured across the face or back of the next adjacent vane. Thus, referring to Fig. 4, when the tabs 8 of the vanes I are adhesively secured, each to thenext adjacent vane, the tabsfl will appear inthe position indicated at ID in Fig. 4, either across theinner face or the outer face of the next adjacent vane. While the preceding description applies to the cutting and forming of the flight guide from a thin flat sheet, it is understood that the guide canbe molded integrally into the same general shape from a material such as powdered cellulose acetate.

In assembling the missile for play the flight guide is placed with the aperture 6 encompassing the sleeve 3, and with the lower surface of the hub portion 5 flatwise against the upper surface II of the head I. threaded into position on the sleeve 3, and a flange I3 (as shown in Fig. 3) bears against the upper surface of the hub 53 holding the flight guide in fixed position, and compressing the resilient or roughened ridge l. Instead of the nut I2 having a flange portion as illustrated, it will, of course, be entirely practical to employ a flat Washer to replace the flange portion 3. The provision of a washer instead of a nut cfparticular shape merely requires an additional part.

While it is believed that the provisionxof a means for detachably mounting the flight guide,-

as described above, will he usually desirable, it

is understood that in some cases the fli ht guide may preferably be permanently cemented to a flat upper surface of the head I.

It should be understood that a missile made in accordance with my proposed construction will be absolutely balanced for spiral flight because every part (which is not purposely offset to act upon the air) is perfectly circular and has a common axis with the polar axis of the missile.

' Also, being made by machines instead of by handwork, one missile of a type will be exactly like the rest of that type, and accordingly, the weight, balance, and trajectory of a given type missile will always be the same,

It is within the scopeof my invention to vary,

as stated, verymaterially'the size and. weight of. the head, and the size, pitch, and conical flare of the flight guide of the missile, and thematerials of each part. Thus the missile may be as light as an ordinary badminton bird, or it may be considerably heavier so as to make possible.

play where the trajectory may be from seventy five to one hundred feet instead of thirty or forty feed.

I consider within the scope of my invention the provision of any type of missile for a game which includes a head or contact portion, a flight guide composed of vanes formed in a conical or conoidal assembly and pitched so as to induce" a spinning motion of the missile: during its trajectory, and an attaching or clamping device which secures the flight guide assembly to the head and which is adapted for detachment so l. A game missile having a molded resilient conoid head with an integrally molded stem extending from the flat. surface of said head and in alignment with'the polar axis thereof, a threaded sleeve encompassing and secured to stem, a flight guide formed of integral material andv having spaced pitched vanes extending in a conical formation to impart a spinning movement and retarded speed in flight to said missile, v

The round nut it is then and a threaded nut adapted to be received on said threaded sleeve and detachably holding said flight guide in position.

2. A game missile comprising a molded, strikable conoid head with an integrally molded stemextending from the flat surface of said head and in central alignment with the polar axis thereof, a threaded sleeve encompasing and secured to said stem, a flight guide formed of integral material and having spaced, pitched vanes extending upward from the head in a conical formation so as to impart a spinning movement and retarded speed in flight to said missile, said vanes bound together circumferentially and having attaching tabs extending from each vane to its next adjacent vane, and a threaded nut received on said threaded sleeve and holding said flight guide in position.

3. A game missile having a resilient head of conoid shape and formed of molded composition, an attachment member permanently secured to said head, and comprising an integrally molded stem extending coaxially from the head, a detachable flight guide composed of a plurality of vanes arranged in spaced position so as to impart a spinning movement and retarded speed in flight to said missile, and a detachable member adapted to cooperate with said attachment member for detachably mounting said flight guide on said head.

4. In combination with a game missile of the character specified, a head having one or more compressible annular ridges molded integrally in the upper surface of said head, such compressible ridges adapted to be compressed by the attaching nut, this causing the threads of said nut to frictionally bind against the threads of the attachment sleeve, thereby preventing said nut from becoming loose when the missile is struck.

5. In combination with a game missile of the character specified, a flight guide consisting of a horizontal hub having a circular aperture therein, a plurality of vanes spaced around said hub and extending from the plane thereof in a flared conical formation, so as to control the traiection of said missile in flight, the planes of said vanes being pitched from the axis of the hub so as to impart to the missile a spinning movement in flight, said vanes to be bound together circumferentially and having attaching tabs extending from each to its next adjacent vane, said attaching tabs being folded and secured to each next adjacent vfiane thereby maintaining the conical flare and pitch of the vanes, said flight guide being cut and formed from a unitary thin sheet.

CHARLES R. YANCEY. 

